Even after support for XP ends in April anti-malware updates will continue for more than a year

Microsoft ends support for Windows XP in April, but it will keep updating anti-malware software for the operating system for more than a year afterwards.

Malware signature updates for System Center Endpoint Protection, Forefront Client Security, Forefront Endpoint Protection and Windows Intune – all used by businesses – will continue through July 14, 2015, the company’s Malware Protection Center blog says. Updates for the consumer product Security Essentials will also be extended.

The added support is meant to help customers finish their expected switch from XP to a supported operating system. One of the dangers of staying with XP after support ends is that any vulnerabilities discovered after April 8 won’t be patched.

Microsoft says the anti-malware protection isn’t as effective as patches and running an operating system that is more secure to begin with and then applying patches as soon as they become available.

Tim Greene covers Microsoft and unified communications for Network World and writes the Mostly Microsoft blog. Reach him at tgreene@nww.com and follow him on Twitter@Tim_Greene.